A little note: Place names in certain areas, especially Eastern Europe and the Middle East, are a minefield that can trap the unwary and under the wrong circumstances even get a person killed. In my little tribute to Sutzkever, I referred to the capital of Lithuania as Vilna. That is its Yiddish name, If I were to call it that at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago, they would know I was a Jew (or a Russian or German). To call it Wilno (pronounced Vilno) would stamp you as a Pole. To a Lithuanian, it is Vilnius. But anyone who were to call Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kremer the Vilnius Gaon, would sound very funny and show he knew nothing of Jewish culture. Likewise Lviv (Ukranian) in Galicia is Lvov (Russian), Lwow (Polish-pronounced Lvov) and Lemberg (German and Yiddish). Names in the Middle East are just as critical-perhaps more so. Hebron (Khevron in Hebrew) is al-Khalil in Arabic. If one was confronted by Hamas guerillas, this could get you killed. So could Shechem (Nablus), Yerushalayim (al-Kuds), and even Israel (Falastin).
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:23:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015